Walter chaeles mallett



(No Model.)

W. G. MALLETT.

BASKET FOR FRUIT, VEGETABLES, OR OTHER COMMODITIES.

No. 680,947. I Patented Apr; 20, 1897.

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I UNITED STATES ATFENT 1 FFICE.

WALTER CHARLES MALLETT, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

BASKET FOR FRUIT, VEGETABLES, OR OTHER COMMODITIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 580,947, dated April 20, 1897.

A li ti fil d October 5, 1896. i 11v ,607,907, (No model.) Patented in England May 9, 1896, No. 9,897.

To all whom it may concern.- I

Be it known that LWALTER CHARLES MAL- LETT, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented a new and useful Improved Basket or the Like for Fruit, Vegetables, or other Commodities, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 9,897, dated May 9, 1896,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to baskets or the like designed for the reception of fruit,vegetables,

, and other commodities; and it consists of an .the improved basket.

improved construction designed with a view of affording the advantages of lightness, cheapness, durability, and also immunity from injury to the contents.

The nature of my invention will be more fully understood from reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of plan, Fig. 3 a side elevation, and Fig. 4 a vertical section, of the same.

Similar reference-letters designate. similar parts in all the views.

The basket consists of a base-plate or bottom a, of suitable material, such as galvanized sheet-iron, which is perforated to allow of free ventilation and is preferably concave from the outside to hold the contents from contact with the ground. This said base or bottom a, being of uniform thickness throughout, including its perimeter or edge, is designed to engage with correspondingly rectangular or square shaped grooves in the inner side of the lower ends of a series of laths or vertical ribs or staves b, which are arranged circumferentially around it, as shown in Fig. 4. These grooves are not only a short distance above the bottom of the basket, so'

as positively to raise the edge of the baseplate from contact with the ground, but they permit a tight fit of this bottom within the grooves, with little chance of the entry or retention of water or moisture in the grooves. The location of these grooves, furthermore, is

Fig. 2 represents a.

such that the lower exterior band-hoop d, presently to be mentioned, being put in place resists the pressure or thrust of the convex bottom just about at the center of the breadth of this hoop, and the convexity being upward the pressure of the load in the basket tends always to keep the bottom to its place and also to keep the hoop tight. No part of this galvanized bottom reaches to the bottom of the ribs or staves. These said ribs or staves, which are made of thin strips of Wood, cane, or other suit-able material, are bound at the top or rim bya band-hoop c, of wood or other suitable material, and at the bottom by a similar band d, to which hoops the staves are conneoted by means of nails, clips, pegs, or the like. The bottom joint between the base and encircling ribs may be further strengthened by an auxiliary band or bands.

I thus provide a basket which has no projections on the interior, as in baskets ordinarily used, and which projections cause considerable damage when the baskets contain fruit, and at the same time my basket is perfectly ventilated.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- The described basket or receptacle for fruit, vegetables, &c. composed of a bottom formed of a sheet of galvanized metal convexed on its upper side and perforated, of staves separated from each other and grooved to correspond with and receive the edge of such bottom, of an outer bottom hoop serving to hold such staves against such bottom and to receive the thrust or pressure of this convex bottom at about the center of the breadth of this hoop, and of an upper exterior hoop near the top of the receptacle.

WALTER CHARLES MALLETT.

Witnesses:

O. I. PARKER, H. J. REDGRAVE. 

